New Years Eve
by MaplePucks
Summary: At an odd request from Francis, the FACE family finds themselves making New Years Resolutions. For each other. What is the point of this when they can't even make resolutions for themselves to stick to? When hounded for a reason, Francis remains as vague as ever. What could possibly be his reason behind this? *FACE, mild language, Human AU*


**Decided to put a twist on doing New Years Resolutions. FACE style!**  
**Just so you know, I love "big brother France" which this fic is basically about. I hate the way he's is portrayed in the fandom. I see him as a kind, caring, very loving person. That's the France I know and love. **

**Please enjoy and constructive criticism is always welcomed! **

* * *

Shaking with uncontrollable laughter at the sight of his twin furiously rubbing the back of his head, Alfred took a steadying breath. One more time and then he would quit, maybe. Carefully, he loaded his weapon, his index finger pointed straight ahead like a gun, with another rubber band. It was a fairly thick rubber band, if he stretched it back just far enough this one could do some damage. Poor Mattie, he made the perfect target, Alfred thought taking aim again. With his tongue poking slightly out of his mouth and one eye closed, he raised his finger up to shoot.

"Ready…aim…FIRE!" He yelled, letting the rubber band fly across the bedroom he was temporarily sharing with his slightly older twin. The pen Matthew had been writing with slammed down on the desk and he whipped around to face him. His purple eye's had a hint of malice but Alfred could care less, gripping the back of his chair hard as he laughed. Again, Matthew angrily rubbed the back of his head glaring at him.

"Hoser! Stop shooting rubber bands at my head! You have something better to do and I know it!" He exclaimed. Alfred shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't say that, it's so not better than this." He quipped, reaching across his desk for another rubber band. He loved to rile Mattie into arguing, it was more fun than his usual passive nature. And, it could be so easily brought out to play. It really didn't take much.

Suddenly, something soft but still fairly large hit his face, knocking his glasses askew. Confused, he looked down and saw Matthew's stuffed polar bear he had as a child, that a few moments ago had been peacefully sitting on his desk now lying innocently on the floor. Mr. Kuma…Kumaizod…Kumachu? Alfred was never good at remembering the name of that stupid thing, course neither was Mattie. Either way, the bear appeared to have been lobbed across the room at him and he was surprised. He looked up with indignation at Matthew. Before he could even say a word, Matthew cut him off.

"Just get back to your list. The sooner you get it done, the better." He said, turning back to his own work. Alfred sighed and turned back to sit at his desk, staring at the incredibly blank, intimidating piece of paper before him.

"How come you get to throw things now and I don't?" He pouted, picking up his pen and instead of writing even a heading, chose to try and balance it on his nose. Matthew let out a warning grumble which told Alfred he better shut up or something heavier might be coming his way.

It wasn't a normal list he was supposed to be working on, Alfred thought, that's why it was so hard. If he had been charged with making of list of stuff he wanted, even with it being after Christmas, that would have been easier. Making a list of exciting places to go, or his bucket list even would have much easier to handle. Hell, the routine grocery list was better. But this, this was kind of starting to stress him out. A list of New Year's resolutions, for himself would have been hard but this year, he had to make a list for someone else. Arthur.

Both he and Matthew were visiting their dads, being Christmas and all. Usually Alfred liked hanging out here during this time of year, because it only had to be for a week. If he had to live here again, that would be a different story. But this year Matthew's Papa, Francis, had sprung something different at them. He wanted them to make New Year's resolutions, for each other. Alfred had panicked a little, it was hard enough making them for himself. So much so he just didn't even bother anymore. He remembering laughing, surely his Pop, Arthur, wouldn't go for it. No way. However to his complete horror, Arthur had agreed! Just like that, said it was a really good idea. That way they would actually have resolutions this year to work on.

In a few short hours it would be New Year's Eve, and everyone seemed to be finishing their lists except for Alfred who hadn't started. Arthur was a hard man to make resolutions for, not that he couldn't think of anything the man needed to improve on. It was just, while Alfred usually liked pointing out the faults of others to a degree, he respected Arthur. For the most part, of course they still argued and had intense battles. In fact he had not made his teenage years easy on the man, Alfred had been a rebellious youngster. But still, he was at a lost. How was he supposed to point out Arthur's flaws?

Alfred hummed quietly for a few moments, taping his pen on the desk, before turning to Mattie again.

"Why does Francis want us to do this? What's the point?" He asked. He received shrugging shoulders in reply.

"Papa must have his reasons, just do your list. It shouldn't take you that long, it only has to be three resolutions each." He reminded him, carefully still jotting stuff down on his own paper. Alfred rolled his eyes and once again turned back to his paper.

After taking his time illustrating Arthur's name boldly across the top, Alfred took a deep breath. Three things, three items of improvement for Arthur. Ok, Alfred thought, item one.

1) Learn to cook.

Yes, Alfred thought, hastily scribbling that down. That was a good one for Arthur. He desperately needed to learn how to cook. It was so bad that whenever the fire department in Alfred's town saw Arthur's car in the drive way, they would just sit outside his house and just wait. Even if he did manage not to burn anything, whatever he cooked was often so inedible, Alfred's dog didn't want it. It was crazy! So yes, Alfred thought, that was definitely one for Arthur. Now, item two.

2) Let loose a little.

Oh! Good one, Alfred thought writing that one down even faster. Wow, maybe this wasn't so hard after all. Let loose a little, that one he really wanted Arthur to do. The man was so stuck in his uptight ways, Alfred wasn't sure he knew how to relax or unwind. Even having tea had to be a proper affair for him. Alfred just wanted him to throw the rule book out for a day or two and see what it's like living free. He had the sneaking suspicion Arthur might enjoy it greatly. Last one, item three. Alfred thought long and hard, debating between the various choices he could write. He finally decided on one in particular that he really wanted for Arthur to work on.

3) Get out more.

This one made him sad he even had to write. Arthur was such a loner sometimes, it honestly broke Alfred heart. All he had was his family, Alfred, Mattie and Francis. He didn't have many friends after that. Alfred had always wondered why that was. And why it seemed like Arthur liked this sort of isolation from the rest of the world Alfred didn't know. All Alfred wanted was for him to go out and see the world. Explore, and have fun. It's what everybody needed every now and then. Why couldn't Arthur see that for himself?

Stretching his arms upwards, Alfred sighed. There. He had finished this silly request and could move on to more important things. He glanced over his shoulder to Mattie, who was still writing away. What was he doing? Writing Francis a novel? He smiled devilishly, Mattie looked like he was working so hard, Alfred just had to give him a little break. Laughing softly, he grabbed another rubber band out of his container that was still fairly full of them.

* * *

If Alfred shot one more rubber band at him, it wouldn't be the only thing snapping Matthew thought angrily. Why couldn't he just act his age? They were grown men, pushing 25 years old. Why did Alfred insist on being so immature? He better count himself as lucky that Matthew didn't have to make resolutions for him, he would be here all night. Matthew rubbed his temples with his free hand and returned to his list that had turned into more of a letter to his Papa.

He sighed, he really didn't know why they had to do this. Or why his Papa had had such a sudden inspiration. In truth, Arthur's willingness to go along with it surprised him as much as Alfred. There must be a reason for this, Matthew thought rationally, maybe by the end of the night they would figure it out. For now, Matthew plugged along at his letter.

At first, he wasn't sure what he was going to write so that is what he wrote down. He knew it was silly but he told his Papa exactly what he was feeling. Why it was so hard to think of three things he could improve on. It was because he loved him and cared for him, he didn't want to hurt him by pointing out items of improvement. The man had taken good care of him when he was little and even that brief time where he disappeared he knew he cared. Matthew had long since forgiven him for running away, abandoning him. Their relationship was on the mend and Matthew was worried that by doing this, it would turn bitter again. So that was the first half of his list, telling Francis how much he meant to him and how much he was looking forward to spending the new year with him. He laughed, Alfred was probably either just doodling on his paper or had hastily begun scrawling out a list.

Now, he thought, placing the tip of the pen on his nose to thinking for a moment. What is the first thing Papa should work on?

1) Stop spreading rumors.

Matthew nodded his head as he wrote that down. Everyone knew that Francis had a terrible habit of spreading horrible, most of the time untrue, rumors about everyone. Well mostly everyone, he did spare a few people. Himself and Feliciano being the lucky few. It was a mystery to Matthew as to what made Feliciano so special to him, but Francis never had an ill word to say about the man. All the others, including Alfred and Arthur were fair game. Matthew thought most of the time the gossiping was for attention, but that wasn't a good enough reason. Matthew wanted his Papa not to do it anymore at all.

2) Be a little neater.

Francis was a slob, Matthew couldn't see a way around being so blunt about it. He was always leaving his clothes strewn about, dishes lying out unwashed for days and never cleaned up behind himself, after anything. It was a good thing he was living with Arthur now or else, Matthew shuddered to think of the possibilities. Arthur didn't like messiness, everything had to have order. That's the way both him and Matthew preferred things, and he would like Francis to learn to prefer it too. Alfred too but he wasn't making Alfred's list. Yes, Francis could stand to be neater. Matthew laughed, that wouldn't be too hard and it would do everyone some good.

Now, he thought tapping the pen slightly against the paper, here was the tricky part. Choosing the last resolution for him. He wanted it to be a good one, and he had plenty of choices to pick from. Rubbing the rubber band impact sight again, Matthew continued to ponder about it for a few moments. What was he going to tell Francis? After several minutes of deliberation, he finally settled on one he thought was most important.

3) Don't try so hard.

Matthew sighed, Francis could use a lesson in this area. It sounded a bit hypocritical coming for him of all people but there was a difference between them. While Matthew just wanted to be noticed, Francis was afraid of being forgotten by others. So much so he pushed himself to hard, being too over the top. Keeping up with his exuberant, wild personality took its toll on the man. Matthew had seen him come home exhausted and worn, many times before. All he wanted was for Francis to see that he would never be forgotten by the people who mattered most.

Well, that had taken a lot than expected, Matthew thought setting his pen down gently. Hopefully, this was what Francis had wanted from this task whatever that was. Perhaps he had gotten a bit carried away with the first bit but other than that, it was a pretty good list he thought.

Suddenly, he felt another pop against the back of his skull and he whirled around to glare at his twin who was beside himself with laugher. If he wanted a fight, that was what he was going to get. Grabbing the tape dispenser off of his desk, he ripped off a big stretch and got up slowly out of his chair. Alfred's laughter slowed and was replaced by a worried look, he gulped. Matthew laughed as he advanced, his twin was doomed and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

* * *

As he sat watching the dark amber liquid twirl around his glass, Arthur felt his frustrations begin to rise. Why had he even agreed to this nonsense in the first place? Making resolutions for each other was preposterous, simply a huge waste of time. Even if he did manage to complete his list, which he had yet to start, there was no guarantee that Alfred would even listen to what he had to say. Foolish headstrong boy would either tuck it away to be forgotten or he would just throw it out altogether. Really, if he knew Alfred well at all, he probably hadn't started his list either. Useless waste of time indeed, he thought bitterly.

Also, to add to his irritation, the den he was working in was quickly filling with smoke, of the cigarette kind. Francis, who had settled himself at the desk opposite Arthur, was lighting up one every few moments. Was he trying to asphyxiate them both? Of course Arthur wasn't helping matters, lighting his own in turn with Francis. Almost as if they were in a competition to see who could smoke all the cigarettes in the house. Arthur always had to beat Francis, no matter what they were doing.

Taking another sip of his scotch and following it by a long drag on his smoke, he stared hard at the semi-blank paper before him. Why was he doing this? Maybe he could get some answers out of Francis now, tenth time could be the charm for this question.

"Seriously Francis, why are we doing this? Can you please tell me now?" He asked almost pleading with the man. He heard Francis laugh in response.

"Non mon ami, just work on your list. I 'ave my reasons, you will know soon enough." He said. Arthur gritted his teeth. Ok, at least that was better than his last answer which had been just a faint smile and a puff of smoke. Still, he wasn't getting off that easy.

"Another thing, why only three items long? I could fill a whole library with Alfred's traits that could use improvement." Arthur quipped. He watched Francis shake his head, with amusement and then he took another draw on his cigarette.

"Quantity iz not zhe point mon cher. Strive for quality in your resolutions." He laughed, still not even turning to look at him. For a moment, Arthur found himself waiting with baited breath to see if Francis was going to tell him more. No such luck. After a little more grumbling, Arthur sighed and turned to fully concentrate on his list.

He knew right away what he wanted to but first on Alfred's list. It was the trait about the boy that drove him the craziest.

1) Don't be such a glutton.

That was the perfect resolution for Alfred, Arthur thought. The boy could eat, way more than any "growing boy" should. Arthur honestly considered it a great miracle that Alfred had managed to stay fit and trim this long. Every time he turned around, Alfred was eating something and he ate double what he should at every meal. It concerned Arthur, due to the health reasons that came along with the vice of gluttony. The last thing he wanted was for Alfred to face medical issues from a condition that could have been prevented.

Item two was another easy one, he wrote it down quickly after another sip of scotch.

2) Stop being so nosy.

It never failed, Alfred was great at sticking his nose in other people's business. Anywhere he didn't belong , he'd find a way to get in somehow. In past it had caused him a few issues. Arthur had lost count of the times he had to pick him from school due to a fight he had caused or brought himself into. Now that he was getting older, his tendency to run his mouth and get into trouble could get him killed. Arthur shuddered, that thought scared him but not as much as the final resolution.

3) Be more careful.

This was two-fold with the last one, Arthur thought, he meant it in both ways. In what the man said and his actions. Alfred was such a dare-devil, he did things that even the craziest people would think twice about doing. It was hard to believe that in his short life, he had been to the ER more times than he had bones to break and that the amount of speeding tickets he had amassed was horrifying. Arthur didn't want him to stop enjoying life, he admired that quality of his son, he just wanted him to enjoy it more carefully.

Pouring himself another glass of scotch, Arthur leaned back in his chair. He watched the haze grow thicker as he too lit another cigarette. It had been with the best intentions, Arthur thought glancing over at Francis who seemed to be just staring out into the haze as well. He had made a good list, it was a shame it would be going to waste.

* * *

Calmly lighting his third cigarette in ten minutes, Francis took a long draw and sat back in his chair. He had long since finished his list of resolutions for Matthew. It had been his idea after all, of course he knew exactly what he wanted to write. Mainly, he was just sitting in here to annoy Arthur. To hear him grumble and complain about the task he had been given. There was no doubt in his mind that Arthur would do his list despite the moaning. After he had so quickly agreed to it in front of the boys like that, he would be ridiculed by Alfred for skipping out. As that was his least favorite activity in the world, Francis knew he would want to avoid that at all cost. He looked out of the corner of his eye at him and laughed as he made a noise of frustration.

"Alfred is far too hard to narrow down! You have the easy son, no resolutions to make there!" He exclaimed. Francis heard him mumble incoherently about doing it on purpose and he smiled. He took one last draw, finishing his smoke and blew out a puff of thick smoke adding to the already dense air.

"Non, zhat is not true. We all have zhings we need to work on, Matthieu iz no different." He told him peacefully. He heard the sound of crumpling paper and looked over in time to see a blur of white whizz by his head. It seemed Arthur had reached his breaking point.

"You're being a right vague git about all of this you know!" Arthur barked at him. While Francis was greatly enjoying his favorite past time, he had to get Arthur back to focusing on his own list. Ignoring the blunt accusation, Francis picked his own list off the desk and proceeded to read it over again. After a few moments, Arthur was back to back to grumbling and working on his list.

Leaving his precious nicotine aside for a moment, looked over his list. The first one was a light one, something Matthew could easily fix.

1) Try to be on time more.

Francis knew it wasn't his fault that he over slept most of the time. Matthew's stress induced insomnia often made him sleep through his alarms in the morning. The problem had been fine when he was in school, Francis just letting him sleep in allowing him to make up the work at home. He was a good student so it had been ok. Now that Matthew had gotten older, the issues needed to be more seriously addressed. The habit had gotten him fired from several jobs in the past few years and it caused Francis to worry. It was a simple problem that Matthew could handle in the new year.

The next one on the list would take just a bit more effort from his son. Not too much Francis thought.

2) Be more assertive.

There was really no way to avoid putting that one on the list, the boy was painfully shy. As a result, Francis had to stand back and watch as people walked all over him. Day in and day out, and Matthew just let them do it, with no regard for himself. He was polite, but it was to a fault. No one could be that nice, a line needed to be drawn somewhere and Matthew just wasn't doing that for himself. Francis could step in, he could stop the people who were taking advantage of Matthew but that would do the boy no good. He needed to do it on his own. If he just said no a few times, that would do him some good. Then he would finally start to earn respect, people may even begin to notice him.

Finally that last one and Francis thought this was probably the most important of all three.

3) Don't get so angry.

It was one of Matthew's weakest points, but it went hand in hand with the one before. In fact, always having to say yes to people caused his anger. He would work himself into such a frenzy that he would always snap. Letting his anger build slowly up until it all came billowing out in one go. Despite his quiet nature, he could easily lash out at others. Most of the time his twin Alfred was on the receiving end but Francis had experienced his fair share. While the outburst where frightening, Francis didn't believe they should cause great concern, yet. If left unchecked, he feared what would happen but for right now, Matthew could change it. He would have to work on assertiveness and aggressiveness together.

With a satisfied smile, Francis set his list back down and grabbed another smoke off of his desk. Last one of the year, he thought playfully, striking the match against the box. Letting another heavy puff into the air, he closed his eyes. In a few hours, everything would clear out.

* * *

They had all gathered, with fifteen minutes to go before midnight, in the large living room of the spacious house. The Christmas tree still stood with all its glory, Arthur refusing to take it down before old Christmas in January. That suited Francis just fine, he liked having the tree up as they rang in the new year. It gave balance, celebrating the new with the old. He loved it, he thought as he watched his family, sipping quietly on his glass of wine. In a way, his family very much mirrored that symmetry.

This was a time for enjoying each other's company. Arthur was still nurse and glass of scotch as he talked wildly his two boys, about what Francis did not know. He could imagine it was some of the old pirate stories he was very fond of, and it seemed the boys were still very fond of as well. He watched Alfred making big gestures with his hands, threatening to spill the fruity cocktail in his hands all over Matthew. Francis laughed as Matthew's cheeks began to flush slightly from the wine he was drinking as well, a white to contrast Francis' red. It was a pleasure to see them all getting along for once, which admittedly didn't happen that often. Things had gotten better now that the boys were older, but they still had their moments.

Now with just a few minutes left to go before the final countdown, Francis walked calmly over to their circle and tapped Matthew gently on his shoulder. He didn't say a word but when Matthew looked up at him, he simply handed him the list he had made. It took a few moment's but it finally dawned on Matthew what was going on and he hastily pulled out his list for Francis. Alfred and Arthur didn't take long to catch on and were exchanging papers next.

The look of surprises on each other's faces told Francis that this had been a success. Alfred looked to Arthur, he seemed to almost have tears in his eyes and the same could be said for Arthur. It was curious as to what the two could have put down but Francis was shocked to see them reach out and give each other a hug. That hadn't happened willingly since Alfred had been a boy, that made Francis very happy.

As for his own letter, he looked at Matthew and smiled. The boy smiled back at him and nodded.

"I will Papa, I will try to be more assertive. And I suppose less angry." He said, trying to hold back a tear himself. Francis placed a hand on his shoulder.

"As I will not try so 'ard mon cher. Zhese are excellent resolutions for moi, zhank you." He said quietly. Matthew looked a little confused but smiled. Suddenly Arthur piped in.

"Alright, so now you have to tell us what you motive was for having us do all of this." He said forcefully. Alfred and Matthew both nodded their heads in agreement. Francis beamed at each of them.

"Arzur, I 'ave already told you non? We all have zhings zhat we need to work on." He replied to them. Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Yea, and we could have done it for ourselves. Why did we have to make ones for each other." He asked almost indignantly. Arthur folded his arms waiting for a response and Matthew just looked up at him expectantly.

"Zometimes it take anozer to point out our most important flaws zo zhat we can fix zhem. To be our best, we need zhe help of otzers." He said quietly.

They all stared at him with awe, like they didn't expect that from him at all. No one moved or said anything for a few moments, all of them flabbergasted. It was Matthew who reacted first, he got up and threw his arms around Francis in an embrace. He was soon followed by Alfred and in turn Arthur. They understood, they knew he had done it all for the right reasons.

Breaking away for each other just in time, they all raised their respective glasses high into the air.

"3" Alfred and Arthur yelled out together, Arthur raising his glass higher.

"2" Matthew followed, in a loud, clear, confident voice.

"1, 'appy New Years!" Francis exclaimed as the wall clock chimed beside him and they all chinked their glasses together in one big rush of excitement.


End file.
